Although applicable to any aircraft or spacecraft as well as any space, the present invention as well as the problem on which it is based are explained in more detail in relation to a hold for an aircraft.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a detail of a facing arrangement 1 which lines a hold 2 of an aircraft, generally indicated as 3 and not shown further. The facing arrangement 1 has a plurality of panels 4 made of a sandwich material. The sandwich material is indicated by hatching on the edges of some of the panels 4. The panels 4 are fastened to mounting parts 6 by means of a large number of screws 5. The mounting parts 6 are attached in turn to the primary structure (which is not shown in FIG. 1, however) of the aircraft 3, for example, to formers. The mounting parts 6 are formed as elongate profiled parts which extend, in particular, in the longitudinal direction X and vertical direction Z of the aircraft 3, so that a type of lattice structure results, which is not shown in FIG. 1, however.
Since spot loads are introduced in the edge regions of the panels 4 via the screws 5, the panels must be reinforced by insets 7. By way of example, this is shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1 for only one of the screws 5. The insets 7 must already be integrated into the respective sandwich material during construction thereof, i.e. before the sandwich material is cured.
Because of the spot loads which are introduced in the edge regions of the panels 4 via the screws 5, it is further necessary to reinforce the edge regions by means of core filler (not shown).
A facing arrangement which is related to the above-described facing arrangement is known from document DE 41 41 573 A1. DE 41 41 573 A1 describes an apparatus for the detachable fixing of facing panels to a secondary structure of an aircraft, locking elements being pushed through a guide bushing in a facing panel.
In practice, the above-described solutions have proved disadvantageous in many respects:
Setting the screws 5 takes a comparatively long time and is combined with correspondingly positioning each screw 5 opposite a corresponding hole in a respective panel 4. This requires a comparatively complex assembly process.
Furthermore, the insets 7 and the core filler (not shown) must be provided, which makes the production process for the panels 4 complex. The same is true for the guide bushings described in DE 41 41 573 A1.
In addition, because of the holes for the screws 5, the insets 7 and the core filler, the dimensioning for a finished panel 4 is predetermined. This means that if it is unexpectedly found that a differently dimensioned panel 4 is required in a certain place, a separate panel 4 must be manufactured for this, and a panel which has already been produced cannot be adapted accordingly. The same is true for the facing panels described in DE 41 41 573 A1.
Furthermore, for example, during maintenance of the aircraft 3, in particular if it is found that one of the panels 4 is damaged, it is necessary to replace the corresponding panel 4. For this, however, a large number of screws 5 must be loosened, which is comparatively labour-intensive and time-consuming